AEC: alternate Aftermath
by everlostneverfound
Summary: a fast forward, AU of my other story called after math, except this one has a much less intricate plot knot to tie up all the holes. this is just for the AEC submission, to read the 'real' one, once i put up more chapters of it, check it out. also, The staff of should make all of the languages invested by the authors a thing


**yeah yeah its rushed obviously :P**

* * *

Artemis sat cross legged in a state of amazing concentration. He wasn't really working on anything in particular in the moment. You have to remember, he died, and according to the humans, and most of the People, if you die and come back to life, you are either a product of some sorcery, which was somewhat true in this case, or a viral zombie.

So, the humans, his family, the Butlers, Minerva, Everyone thought he was dead. No one was really expecting it, his enemies were surprised, and wondered which of them managed to take him down, while his friends, grieved and searched for an unnamed killer.

Both of the butlers, Juliet and Domovoi, quit after the incident, and both went to different corners of the world doing various semi legal things. Of course they were told he was alive, but no one else from the human world could know, after all there was a body, and a very large amount of people showed up to it. Not all of them were friends. So now the pair, still at opposite corners of the world, continued doing semi legal things, just semi legal things that benefited themselves, and helps to take their minds off of their dear companion's, which normally would have been death, but instead he was separated from most of the world. Foally long ago considered this and asked around for someone to take him in, because he couldn't exactly live on earth any where now. He was famous for his many confessions in his will.

Which was a computer document that, after the second excursion with the fairies, was made sure to be very kept up to date. Of course nothing about the fairies was in there, but in the bottom it had a list of his crimes, and no one else's, they couldn't exactly link his family to them. They were either comatose in a state of deliria for most of them, lost near the arctic circle, or off on a trip while he did most of these things. The detectives found it amazing really, and he ended up on the wall of infamous master minds. Not an official wall mind you but a list among private detectives and various highly skilled detectives among various agencies. In fact because of his clear ingenuity and clever plans, there was a watch for him just in case that body wasn't his true one.

But enough of his death, let us come forward into present events. He was actually, not allowed to leave Holly's house, so after he had the daily routine of hacking into any network he could get his hands on using Holly's computer, which was almost as advanced as his laptop, he sat on the couch for a minute, and after realizing that was even more boring than the People's internet, went off screen to the kitchen, presumably to try and fail to cook something and sat down Indian style, waiting for Holly to come home and give him something to do. He quickly got bored with the People's internet over the last two weeks, because the only thing that seemed to be on it at the moment, was about how just under two weeks ago, the first day he arrived at haven, someone saw him, called a few people, and those people called people, and those people took lots of pictures.

Word got out fairly quickly in the underground of all, and I mean _all _of Fowl's dealings with the people out in the public eye. It was necessary to prevent a lynch mob, organized by a few demons off their meds, because almost none of the public knew just how much he helped them, even though some demons did know of Artemis's help by saving their whole race, to them at that moment, he was some strange human being harbored by the loose cannon of the LEP, Holly Short.

"Well." Foally said looking at the camera in Holly's house, because according to a certain new law, all LEP officers had to have cameras, in the case of an assassination attempt by the very scattered goblin gangs, who now went by anything but their previous name, "I hope your mud boy doesn't die of boredom, or burn your house down." He said with a grin to Holly, who at the moment was playing security guard for him. He was more paranoid than ever.

"Well he might not if I do first." She slumped against the wall, still with one eye checking the entrance. "Foally, maybe I should take a week or two off to make sure Artemis is okay, he did sort of die for six months you know?"

"Yes I do, and while that isn't really up to me, I'm just as curious as you, but, he could still know more than he is letting on, after all, he is still Artemis."

She all too clearly remembered the first time Doctor Argon, and other people associated with mental health, Foally, even commander trouble, all said the same thing.

_Foally, because he always had to be included in the conversation started with, "The first thing he said to you when he came back, was nearly a mirror of the first thing you said to him, don't you find that even a little suspicious?"_

"_Of course I do, but there could be a logical explanation."_

_Commander trouble, always the pessimist said "Like what Holly?"_

"_I don't know, but even if he does remember more than what he says, what could it hurt?"_

_Doctor argon slowly shook his head. "Do you remember even half of the things he has done holly? How many times he has betrayed his closest friends, even if it did turn out alright in the end? Imagine coming back to life and remembering those times, remembering that you were a ruthless master mind. Remembering the guilt you felt as the happiness melted from your friend's eyes, and doing it again any way so things would turn out alright in the end. Even if he remembered the good times too, how as you said, he saved your life, the lives of the People, and humanities lives on many occasions, he would always feel guilty of those newly remembered things. That might lead to some, troubling situations."_

That was probably the most true statement he ever made about Artemis's mind, because his brain was missing connections that were once in his old one, that conditioned him to think in certain ways, of course he still remembers thinking in those ways, so he certainly attempts it, but the memories of something can only take you so far in a new body. She could see how the guilt tore him apart even when he was himself, the stoic master mind nearly kept himself together, until the Atlantic complex. The guilt was obviously too much for him then, and though she didn't see that was the cause then. Now it was all too clear.

"All the more reason too make sure he is fine." She thought about what she was going to do for a moment, and considered how likely it was for her to be fired. Not very considering she was the top operative in the LEP.

She waved at Foally as she said "Well, ill talk to you later I have something to talk about with Trouble now."

Foally followed her with his eyes for a moment, then turned back and grinned. "Good old Holly." She was always lending a helping hand. Particularly to Artemis these days. "You know," he mused to himself. "I wonder just what kind of relation ship they have." After all, they did live in the same house, and the only indoor camera was in the living room. That did lead the curious mind to a few odd questions, even if they had no hint from the two of it. Well, one of them in this case. Foally could all too clearly see Holly's deep feelings for Artemis, after all, he saved her life many times, and in the end sacrificed himself to save her, even if he was hoping it wouldn't lead to his own death as well.

Many minutes later, Trouble received a knock at the door. "Come in."

Holly did, and trouble groaned inside, he could tell by the look on her face where this conversation was heading. "Sir, I need to talk to you about something."

One conversation later, conversation being used in the loosest of terms there, as most of it was yelling incoherent gnomish and waving their arms around, Holly stepped out of the LEP with a week and a half off to safe guard Artemis Fowl's health. It was even an official assignment for her too now.

So if she did something incredibly stupid, she could get a tribunal for it. The thought didn't really scare her, it was the incredible ability of the members of it to completely and totally waste everyone's time.

She was in her civilian clothes now, which was a blue green shirt, and a pair of shorts to match. She walked fast, She didn't own a vehicle that wasn't LEP issue, and she could always use the exercise. Right now though, she just wanted to make sure Artemis had all his fingers by the time she got there, she knew how clumsy he was with a knife.

She actually shivered remembering that time she tried to teach him a proper cutting technique for carrots. The carrots weren't exactly orange any more, and Artemis looked much paler than usual as she tried to reattach three of his fingers at once. Holly didn't even know how he managed to cut three fingers off at once, she blinked and the knife was where his fingers should have been.

Her house was where one might consider the country. On the outskirts of town, with a double height house, that was just short of normal height for a human house, with fifty feet of light forest in all directions, and a fence to make sure the pesky neighbors wouldn't try to see what the captain would look like with her clothes off. Though the neutrino she carried with her when she washed, after test firing it on a particularly determined gnome, kept the trouble makers pretty far away.

But the people that were causing problems before, stayed even farther away with the vampire-boy Artemis there, some people actually believed he was one, after all. Most of them saw the funeral though a news cast, and those that didn't were told b a friend.

Finally reaching her front door, upon opening it, the first thing she heard was Darv'it.

Her thoughts echoed that sentiment as she stepped into the kitchen. He wasn't missing fingers this time, just a few knicks in his fingers, but still. "I swear to Frond Artemis, if you touch a knife again while living here you won't need to worry about bleeding to death." She carefully grabbed the knife, with Artemis looking away from her gaze, which looked pretty frustrated as she grabbed his hands and the magic poured into the cuts around them.

"Please be more careful Artemis, I wasn't supposed to be back from work for another few hours, by the time I got back you could have really hurt yourself."

He managed half a sheepish grin. "Sorry holly won't happen again." He quickly looked back down at how her hands were wrapped around his, even after the magic stitched skin and a few cut strands of muscle together. "Um, can I have my hands back or are you trying to makes sure I don't grab the knife again?"

She quickly took her hand away, apologizing, but making sure to keep the knife well out of his reach. She managed to hide her blush quite well behind her complexion. "So Artemis, I just wanted to make sure everything is alright with you, you haven't really been your self ever since you came back."

He nodded, and answered a little too quickly. "Of course I am holly; it takes a little more than death to stop me." His face showed off confidence, and certainty, his eyes didn't say the same, eyes that were one hundred percent his now. Holly absently put her hand up to what was once Artemis's eye, the only part of his original body that wasn't in a hole in the ground, or part of an illegal cloning experiment.

"Okay Artemis, if you say so." She paused a minute, the two standing awkwardly in the middle of her kitchen, Artemis practically towering over her. "Look, are you sure you don't remember anything from before? And I don' mean what you think you remember from what I've told you, but things you knew just as you came back." He winced a little, the old him would have hidden it well, but he wasn't really himself anymore, and probably never would be. "Please?" She threw out the best look humans usually called the puppy dog look, and Artemis had to look away to stop himself from just spilling everything out right away.

"Okay fine, just please never do that again."

She laughed a little, it was almost a giggle. "Okay Artemis I swear," she raised her hand to her heart. "Never again, now please?" this time there wasn't a puppy look, but all the same it made his chest seem a bit tighter.

"Alright, I'll tell you, but swear you won't laugh." Holly grinned and crossed her heart. "Okay but if you laugh I am never talking to you again." She had to struggle to not laugh at that, it was just something that she never thought he would say. "Well, I actually remember quite a few things from when I was alive, but," he stopped, and was looking away. At first h she thought he was trying to hide a blush, but he had the saddest expression o his face. If it was so sad for him to remember, why did he ask her not to laugh?

"The only memories I have holly, the only memories that I am absolutely sure of, are ones with you in them." This time he was blushing a little, but he looked even more depressed, well not depressed, but some expression of sadness, maybe grief would be a good word here. She didn't even feel like laughing, not a bit, she thought it was sweet, the last thing he remembered was her, the girl he sacrificed his own life to save, after all he could have let her go through with her own plan and gotten herself killed, but still save the world, but he was a stubborn Irishman.

After a long moment of silence, she tried to hug him, but he shook his head and pushed her away, as gently as he could without shoving her backwards, after all this clone body wasn't as weak as the first on, even if just as uncoordinated. "No Holly, please don't try to comfort me." He looked miserable. "I have done some horrible things to you haven't I?"

Holly tried to step up to him again. "Artemis, that was in the past, please its fine now, there is no reason to feel bad about-"

"Yes there is holly." He shook his head and, after clearing it started again. "You have done so much for me holly, in fact it is too much to ever repay, despite every betrayal, in the end you always forgave me, even if I didn't forgive myself, really, after all the times I betrayed you, after the first time we met alone, you should have hated me from that point forward."

Holly shook her head. "Artemis, the People, humanity, and me owe you everything, you cheated death by firing an energy bolt through time, you stopped the b'wa Kell rebellion, you saved a whole race of the people from destruction, and the rest of us you saved twice over, please Artemis, stop acting so… so… irrational! It isn't like you."

"Holly, I honestly think, it would have been better for you to leave me in that state of limbo, I might do something to hurt you again, I might-"

He was cut off as holly threw two quick punches, one to his leg to bring his head within arms reach, the other hit him right in the center of the forehead. She didn't want to break a tooth of his nose. "Damn it Artemis! IT hurts me to see you this way, I forgave you, and the People forgave you, why won't you forgive yourself?"

He looked like he was about to start on another rant, so she did the only thing she could think of to shut him up. She kissed him, and brought him into a hug, that could barely reach around both of his shoulders. The kiss wasn't exactly a quick peck either.

To say the least, it stunned him into silence, even after the kiss was over. Then after a bit, he returned the hug and his shoulders started shaking under her arms.

"A-Artemis… are you crying?"

"Of course not holly, that's ridicules." He hugged her a little tighter, sitting there on the kitchen floor. "Thank you holly"

Holly was shocked that she managed to calm him down this quickly. Of course he didn't mean he was completely fine yet, after all he could still hold that guilt. But any way. "So, I have two weeks off Artemis, what should we do until then?"

She didn't see the vampire grin, the first one he gave out in a very long time. "Oh, I have a few ideas."

* * *

**Interpret that ending as you may, maybe they go swear toad catching, or sit around and watch old movies, or if you have a more perverted mind set...**


End file.
